OVEN-BIRD. 101 



tionable date of striking is April 6, 1887, at Sombrero Key. The 

 earliest date on which spring migrants were noted on the mainland is 

 March 26, 1885, at Pensacola. Records of average date of arrival 

 north of Raleigh are: Variety Mills, Va., White Sulphur Springs and 

 Frenchcreek, W. Va., and Washington, D. C, April 21-26; Beaver, 

 Pa., April 28; Berwyn, Pa., May 1; southeastern New York, May 2; 

 central New York, May 1; northeastern New York, May 8; central 

 Connecticut, May 3; Boston, May 5; St. Johnsbury, Vt., May 9; 

 southern New Hampshire, May 7; southern Maine, May 10; Montreal, 

 May 13; southern New Brunswick, May 20; central Nova Scotia, May 

 23. In 1887 the oven-bird was noted at North River, Prince Edward 

 Island, May 19, and at Godbout, Quebec, June 2. 



Spring migration of oven-birds in the Mississippi Valley is decidedly 

 earlier than in the same latitudes farther east. The average date of 

 earliest arrivals for ten years at Eubank, Ky. , is April 10, with extremes 

 of April 3, 1888, and April 17, 1895. The average for four years at 

 St. Louis is April 14. No records of first arrival at New Orleans 

 correspond to these dates made farther to the north. The earliest 

 dates at New Orleans are April 2, 1881, April 6, 1895, and April 7, 

 1900. The first of the species appear at Brookville, Ind., April 23; 

 Waterloo, Ind., April 27; Petersburg, Mich., April 27; southern 

 Ontario, May 4; Parry Sound district, Ontario, May 12; Ottawa, May 

 16; Chicago and southern Wisconsin, May 1; Keokuk, Iowa, April 

 29; Lanesboro, Minn., May 6; Elk River, Minn., May 7; Medicine 

 Hat, Assiniboia, May 17, 1894; Edmonton, Alberta, May 14, 1897; 

 Aweme, Manitoba, May 14. Far to the northwest the first oven-bird 

 was seen at Little Cascade Rapid, Athabasca, Ma}^ 26, 1903; Athabasca 

 Lake May 29, 1901; and at Nulato, Alaska, May 30, 1867. The rarity 

 of the oven-bird in Texas proves conclusively that the numbers which 

 make the species fairly common in eastern Kansas and Nebraska do 

 not pass through the State. Indeed, it is so decidedly a bird of woods 

 and forest that it seems to find few suitable places in the whole country 

 between Alta Mira, Tamaulipas, and the Sabine River. The earliest 

 record of spring arrival in Texas is April 7, 1890 (San Antonio), a 

 date when the Mississippi Valley birds have already arrived at the 

 mouth of the Ohio. The following records show approximately when 

 the last of the species leave their winter home: St. Croix, in April; 

 Costa Rica, April 16, 1864; Jamaica, April 20; Haiti, April 19, 1895; 

 Cozumel, April 18, 1901; Mazatlan, April 12, 1899; Cuba, end of 

 April; and Andros Island, first week in May. The latest recorded dates 

 of striking at Cay Lobos lighthouse ofi' the north coast of Cuba are 

 May 17, 1900, and May 13, 1901; and the latest at Sombrero Key light, 

 Florida, May 19, 1887, May 15, 1888, and May 29, 1889. 



Fall migration. — Early in August migrating oven-birds are seen 

 just south of their breeding range. The earliest recorded date of a 

 fall migrant at Raleigh, N. C, is August 9, 1892; in Chester County, 



